Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1887-12-24
Written for TEE EVENING star
NX CHRISTMAS GOLD MINE.
A NIGHT OF Terrier.

l nAe W iccaii. nelu pOSltlon VI uush put uoe
much profit, in private banking house. / had
gambled In stocks and lost The fever OF excite
ment and the chill Of despair were upon me-
! There was q thought that persistently forced
| Itself upon my mind and made me tremble in fear
OF myself. caught my eyes measuring the dis
tances on the map that hung over my desk, and
my fingers fumbllng at railroad guide: In the
thrust my books into the safe and closed the time
| lock upon them and all the securttieA AL there!
The next day was Christmas Eve; Would not be
expected at the bank. Then Christmas Not
! my eyes again wandered to the map. But could
| hear the low ticking Of the tme-lock. was safe
/ slept none that night. The moon was shin
on my bed. The room oppressed s me. I walked
| 10 the window and looked out upon the Sc
TSe gn ns
| moon-lit sky. seemed the walls OF q prison. I
could break through them! 1 resolved to fee to
| dimmed the stars In the east had my gun-lockS
In the hollow OF my arm and felt the frosty coun.
NY road creakng under my tread: The trail OF
night still darkened the west, the distant barking
| OF dog or the Growing OF a COCK, impatient for
the morn, broke upon the stiffness, and the frosty
the biting air and walked briskiy on--out into the
lelds OF dead grass shining white with FROST over
the hills through the woods, and climbing the rocky
| blu1s by the river shore went on, the soul ex-
panding within Inc as the country opened out be-
lore the approach OF dawn. My warm blood bat
!
my face and threw a buoyancy into my Step.
| shook on the shackles. was free! Free from
me hard granite walls OF the banking house!
free from The rattle and the clink OF gold, that
keeps time with the beats Of a thousand eager
brokers hearts, and rings In my ears with the per-
petua sound OF SELF self, SELF, as one piece falls
| An hours climbing up steep hills and rocky
places exhausted my enthusiasm enough TO make
me enjoy more calmly the pleasure Of the free wild
The course I had taken led me far from any
nome, nut or habitation. through region 100
rugged for cultivation, and occupied only by tall
Trees OF OAK, hickory, beech and poplars, with an
occasional oS stretch of grten pines between the
edge Of the river nfty feet below. Again the
forest followed the rugged hillside down to the
water, and now and again crossed an impetuous
the cracking OF the twgs under my feet, squirrels
broke for cover, and the sound OF my gun rang
through the woods and settled down upon the
water. The hours passed, through The fascination
OF the sport and the inspiration OF the air. As the
suns ray maize long slant from the West, stop
almost perpendicular face had climbed for more
than hundred feet sat looking at the broad
prospect, tracing the distant winding Of the river
gun slipped from my hand and ratified
| down among the rocks. 1t dropped COM
make no calculation as TO where It had gone.
After a long search found narrow assure In the
rocks, which seemed to extend deep into the body
OF the bun A pole, with which tried TO sound
tsdepth slipped from my hand and slid out OF sight
observed the general direction OF the assure and
climbed around to tue other side OF the cliff to
search for another opening further down. 1t was
much higher than On the side had ascended, and
tne surface was more rugged. The general de.
scent Was more abrupt, but huge bOuderS and
shelves OF rock protruded like giant
making IL possible TO descend VII would other
WIS, wise nave been nearly perpendicular surface. !
began 10 carefully pick my way down. At every
step had TO cling firmly TO the rocks with both
hands, and twice Slid several feet until caught
by some shelving rocks. Some times had TO
dilPpfOuS nS RI n NJ 7 "
MOI greatly concerned ABOUT such risks. wanted, II
possible 10 find another opening to the crevce and
Suddenly, at a sharp turn, a rock gave way
under my feet and l was thrown violently for
ward over the blum. There was rush OF air
| In my ears and the world seemed passing from
under me- Then / was checked with a
violent jerk that took all the breath from For
| a moment my head turned and there was a crash
ing sound In my ears, and then was conscious OF
tightneSs and a severe pain about my waist
When opened my eyes could see that the bottom
and no rocks or anything substantial appeared 10
De within my reach. i seemed to have been
| stopped in mid-air by some Invisible force. The
severe pain about my waist brought to my mind
the realization that had been caught about the
middle by some overhdnging vine, and with this
discovery came the terrible lear that IL would not
prove strong enough 10 hold me, and should soon
be cast To Tie bottom. where the jagged rocks
seemed TO invite my destruction. / could feel my
threatened to break my balance. l reached one
hand slowly back and graSped the vine. / was
SATISFIED Vi It's strength. linen pulled myself I'D
| 50 that could look above. had fallen about rs
feet, and was swinging on grapevine that loOped
down between Two projecting rocks and hung clear
| OF the face OF the bluff by or feet. he'd on
with one hand and reached as far as possible
In all directions, but could touch no projection
OF the rocks. ! next chung to the vine with
both hands and let my body swing free at It's full
length. My feet were at least nifty feet from the
| bottom. II made me sick TO look down, so ! shut
Of the Vita y
feet. But failed in this, and every exertion TO
sway my body weakened my hold on the vine.
once the ho,d OF one hand broke and all my
weight fell upon the other arm. When tired TO
regain the hold, my body turned half-arOund and
| nearly twisted loose the other hand. ! succeeded
| in pull ng myself up until got both arms over
the vine and my head thrown slightly forward,
and was more secure. My strength was fast
failing me, and realized that II there was any
| thing Tor Inc 10 do, must act promptly.
There was space Of eight or ten feet TO the
rock from where the vine hung. / had often
Climbed greater distance up q siack-r0pe hand
overland, but now my arms were deprived OF
half their strength, and the rough bark and broken
| twigs on the vine drew the blood from my hands
My body swayed from side TO side, and my hands
passed slowly one above the other with greater
labor each time, but each time up, up, up-slowly
top, when the rock was not more than
a foot above me, all the hope and strength
from the vines gDwg In
was nothing 70 this. My nerves were at high
one look at the Jagged rocks below. With sud
den spasm OF strength, thrust one hand into the
mass or vines and tore them away, and with a
quick spring threw myself upwards. felt the
Vines uulacIng under my weight, then had my
arms thrown over the SHELVING rock. One effort
more anu was safe! was on a smooth platform
and lay exhausted and half unconsciOus AS by
degrees came to myself and regained some OF my
strength and compoSure, found that was on
shelf standing abruptly out from the face OF the
blum, and that little way from me was an OPEN
ing In the rocks that seemed TO be the mouth Of
cave. Examination discovered II TO be such
which, upon entering, found quite light enough
TO make further exploration safe. II occurred TO
ing, possibly higher up the blum, that might FUR
nish a safer means OF ascent than the rugged way
without. The passage was small at first, but
increased in size as / advanced. After going
a few feet the passage turned almost at right
angles and again In short distance TOOK
| another sharp turn. Beyond this the light was
| clearer. II also became quite warm When had
tunda with no other outlet than that by which
had entered, except narrow crevice or assure In
the very top OF the arched roof through which the
| hight came. The opening did not appear 10 be
| more than six or eight inches wide and extended
| clear across the roof from north to south. BY
standing directly under II could see that it trav-
| elei a long distance through the rock before 1t
| reached the open air. and That II did not get any
| wider toward The opening.
While examining this my attention was drawn
| to brilliant yellow tint on the walls that
| reflected the sun light and seemed to In
crease its power. Looking more closely l
| found that the walls and roof and even
the floor Of the cave were bright with this rich
| yellow metal. The broken edges OF the white
quartz Of which the cave was formed glittered
| before my eyes In some places the walls ap-
1 neo rpd A q In an tnata nt ali